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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Charlotte Monthly: 5 and 6 months!

He loves her

Sooooo, it happened again, I think that being a mommy of two babies and a full time teacher and a crafting on the side for very few extra dollars is leaving little time for blogging. But, since I so enjoy looking back at Hunter's blog entries every month, I will push forth!

She is the happiest baby on the planet, y'all!

For these last two months, a lot has changed for little Miss Charlotte!

Eating: She is eating about 5 ounces per feeding, and within the past week or so before turning 6 months old, she started eating solid foods! She is very different from Hunter in the aspect. He started at 4 months and loved them right away. I believe at 6 months, he was eating 3 actual meals per day, and I called the doctor because he preferred solids over his formula! I tried Charlotte a few different times since turning 4 months old, but she just really didn't want more than a bite or two. About a week ago, she started eating a whole tub of baby food at lunch and again at dinner! So far, she has had carrots, bananas, apples, pears, and squash. I am planning on buying some pouches so that daddy can get a head start on teaching her how to use those!

Sleeping: She is still waking up in the middle of the night at about 2-3. To make my life easier in the short term, she is getting a bottle, but I know that I am making my life waaay harder in the long term. Over Thanksgiving break, when I don't have to be up at 5:30 in the morning for work, I will work on not giving her a bottle in the middle of the night!

In other sleeping news, she has finally outgrown her rock n' play! Hunter was in his through Thanksgiving, and still through Christmas break, he was in the swing after he would wake up for his midnight snack, but Charlotte has just about flipped out of it more times than I can count. One day, she flipped totally face down in her rock n play, so I had to just fold it up and put it away! She is now in her pack n plan in our room, and will flip to her belly and sleep soundly until she gets hungry. Occasionally, she will sleep all night, but not often!

Movement: She is a MOVER!! Although I don't feel that crawling is going to happen before she turns 6 months old, she can get wherever she wants to be by army crawling or pulling up her legs and then lunging forward. She is very fast! Hunter would just lay there and whine, until the day he decided to crawl. Charlotte is such a happy baby that she just figures out a way to get the toy she wants, not much whining for her!

Play: Charlotte is very happy on the floor, but even more, she loves to be in her excer-saucer/bouncer! She doesn't bounce, but she just likes to be able to be up and look around. She also plays with the toys around the outside. She also LOVES her big brother. Oh my word, she just watches his every move, and giggles at him! He loves her just as much, he loves to lay next to her on the floor, give her kisses, and tell me where to set her.

Independence: Charlotte is also starting to sit on her own!! She can sit for about 30 seconds, but if she starts to fall then there is not much of an attempt made to catch herself! I am hoping that by Thanksgiving she is impressing everyone with her sitting skills! She is also a pro at holding her own bottle.... until she drops it, at which time she makes no attempt to pick it up, but she can lay propped up on her Boppy Nest, and drink a whole bottle, or lay in the swing and hold it. She is a champ! This was daddy's teaching :) UPDATE.... since I have started this post, she is a full blown sitter, and bottle holder! She can do both completely unassisted. She can even adjust her bottle when the milk level gets low, and if she sets it down, she can pick it back up. Champ, I tell you, pure champion blood in that child.

Baby-Wearing: Hunter was not a huge fan of being 'worn', but in his defense, I only tried it when he was pretty small and he was all curled around in the K'tan. Deciding to break out the K'tan again was more out of necessity. Big brother would want to go outside, so she would get strapped on and just go for the ride. More recently, I took her to the Nutcracker Market.... strollers NOT allowed... and she did great! Other than being stopped 542 times by people saying what a beautiful baby that I have, just just hung out in the K'tan for 3 solid hours! She is a trooper, I tell you! We have had some cold weather, so we made a campfire in the backyard, and she loved staring at it. Don't judge, she is wearing Hunter's old hat...

I can't wait to see what this month brings, if memory serves me right, this is about the time that Hunter just started shooting past milestones! I know that there is a great chance that she will be behind in milestones, but so far she is right on track!

4 comments:

I am soooo thankful my friend got me started on your blog! I am pregnant with our second baby as well and she was diagnosed with IUGR when I was just 18 weeks pregnant! We thought I might have to deliver at 25 weeks and I am now in my 35th week!!! God is soooo good! It's so great to see the progress and successes you guys have made in such a short time and she is absolutely beautiful! Thank you sooo much for sharing!!!

Thank you for reading and for commenting! I am behind, again, but have been working on another update for a couple of weeks! It's just a matter on getting on my other computer to get some pictures! Keep your head up! These IUGR babies are strong!!

A friend of mine also introduced me to your blog as I was diagnosed with an IUGR baby at 19 weeks.This is our third child. I am now 31 weeks and we are not sure when we will have our little girl. She was in the 3rd percentile at 19 weeks and at the next growth ultrasound she was under that. I go in on the 20th, so about 1 week for another growth ultrasound and am hoping for better news. We have failed so many non stress tests, but everything else is looking great on the ultrasounds. They have no idea why she is an IUGR baby, but I am grateful to see your sweet girl happy, healthy, and growing. This has given me hope. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for reading and commenting! I know that going through IUGR is tough, tougher than many people think, I'm sure you get those comments, "Oh, so the baby is just small?" or, "Why don't you just eat more?".... which make you want to punch people. Keep me updated, I'd love to hear how things are going!